Broiler activity and distribution as behavior-based welfare indicators

Two of the main aspects that broiler farmers use during daily visual checking of the performance of the flock are the activity and distribution patterns that chickens show during their farm visit. Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) technologies allow to monitor such flock behaviour indicators in a continuous and automated way in the house and this 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The aim of this study is to show how the monitoring of activity and distribution of the flock can be used to check the welfare status of the flock. In a commercial broiler house we used four top view cameras to generate a visualization of the floor area. The cameras recorded images continuously during the light periods of every cycle and these images were translated into activity and distribution indexes per minute. The monitoring of activity and distribution indexes through successive light periods for different cycles was linked to the welfare quality assessment scores by human experts, showing that the activity and distribution relate to broiler welfare scores.status: publishe